COLONEL RICHARD C. TANNER

Colonel Richard C. Tanner is Vice Commander, 18th Wing, Kadena Air Base, Japan. The 18th Wing, the largest combat wing in the U.S. Air Force, provides the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, trained and equipped tactical air superiority forces, combat search and rescue forces, command and control platforms, aeromedical evacuation capability, and global mobility resources for contingency operations. The wing flies the F-15C, KC-135R, HH-60 and E-3 aircraft. Additionally, the wing provides the 5th Air Force commander a responsive staging and operational air base with integrated, deployable, forward-based airpower.

Colonel Tanner received his commission from the United States Air Force Academy in 1998, and after Undergraduate Pilot Training, he qualified in the C-17A Globemaster. He has served in various operational positions, including Special Operations Flight Commander and Squadron Director of Operations, and has commanded operational and combat missions worldwide in support of Operations Northern Watch, Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom and New Dawn. He served as the Commander of the 305th Operations Support Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, where he led more than 385 Airmen, Sailors and Soldiers in the Air Force’s only tri-service Operations Support Squadron. In 2006, he was selected as an Olmsted Scholar to Osaka University, Japan, and has served in staff capacities as the Japan Country Director on the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Chief of Officer Development at HQ Air Mobility Command.

Before his current assignment, Colonel Tanner was a Senior Defense Fellow at Harvard University’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.